The Coronavirus Outbreak.

At the start of the Spring semester of my second year at University, news broke out about a mysterious illness that had affected dozens of people in Wuhan, China. The illness was believed to have originated from the exotic animal market, and it seemed to be easily transmittable. Although worried for the people in Wuhan and curious about the impact of this disease, being halfway across the globe in Canada, I felt safe and out of the reach of the virus. Life continued as normal but only for a very brief while.

A couple of weeks later, the first observable effects of the virus could be seen in several countries such as the USA, Japan, South Korea, Iran, etc. Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases in Wuhan had witnessed an exponential increase, destabilizing and almost crippling their healthcare system, prompting China to take immediate action. Consequently, towards the end of January, Wuhan was closed off by Chinese authorities to contain the virus. With thousands of people affected globally, the World Health Organisation declared it to be a global health emergency, giving it an official name: Covid-19.

The impact of the virus was still not felt in North America. Personally, the moment I became extremely worried, like most of us, was when an NBA player had got the virus, leading for matches to get immediately suspended. This led to a cascading effect as every major sports league in North America had been suspended. Governments started rolling out closures of public places and soon, the frenzy began across the country. The feeling of uncertainty was contagious and led to an unprecedented, crisis-like crash of the stock market.

Consequently, this led to everyone feeling extremely anxious and uncertain, causing a trend of stockpiling. I recollect going to the local grocery store, which was swamped with a crowd I had never previously seen since I moved to Canada. Everyone, ranging from kids to the elderly, was seen stocking up on necessities and food in exorbitant amounts. Watching this unfold in front of me eyes made me wonder how an alleged trade for bat soup in China had managed to cause a pasta and tissue paper shortage across North America!

Being an introvert my entire life, Initially, the idea of social distancing and studying at home didn’t seem to bother me too much, but within four days of absolute isolation in my room, I began to notice that I was sliding into a wave of loneliness. I began realizing how small activities like going to the gym or attending lectures with a bunch of friends would keep me sane throughout the day, and how big of a negative impact social distancing was causing to my mental and physical health. Therefore, I began adopting self-care measures, started doing home workouts and stayed connected with my friends and family using video calls. This helped me adapt to the situation, begin a new routine and do my part to contribute to society and reduce the spread of Covid-19.

With the fast-paced life that most of us live, the pandemic taught us to pause for a moment, to sit back and to introspect. It made me realize the importance of appreciating simple privileges in life and how to take care of others around me along with myself. The biggest takeaway was the hand-washing technique, which I practice to this day!

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